PLYMOUTH – The stories of addiction were both heartbreaking and frightening.

A young mother-to-be in Pembroke admitted she’d try to be careful but would also never quit using heroin until it killed her.

A juror saved from a heroin overdose by another juror who happened to have a lifesaving antidote in her purse.

Inmates smuggling heroin substitutes into jail by sewing it into their clothing and weaving it into their hair.

The young mother who died of a heroin overdose just days after her overdose in court went unnoticed.

A special legislative panel heard these sad tales and more this week at the Plymouth Public Library while gathering evidence on the scope of the region’s heroin problem.

But in addition to the horror stories, members of the Special Senate Committee on Drug Abuse and Treatment Options heard stories of success as well, along with recommendations on how to combat the growing problems on a statewide basis.

Senate President Therese convened the committee earlier this year in response to the increasing number of drug-related deaths throughout the state and region.

Murray raised the call to action for curing the heroin epidemic as the first witness in Wednesday’s local hearing.

“If this was a flu epidemic, the swine flu, you’d see every public health official not only in the commonwealth but across the country coming together to say how do we stop this, what are the signs, how do we prevent it,” Murray said. “Instead we have this epidemic of mostly young people dying, and nobody is doing much to stop it.”

Murray said a multi-faceted approach will be needed to attack the problem, noting that education has to start earlier to prevent people from getting addicted in the first place, and that treatment options must expand for those already in the grip of addiction.

Murray said the state must increase treatment options for addicts and also needs to find options to keep addicts alive until they can be cured.

She recognized Narcan, a nasal spray used to counter the deadly effects of heroin, as a major weapon in the fight, suggesting all first responders should be carrying it. Local firefighters and paramedics carry the antidote, but police still do not.

A virtual who’s who of regional public safety and health officials testified as well, identifying ways the Legislature might help.

District Attorney Timothy Cruz said the region’s drug woes are likely worsening but that it is difficult to get a grip on the actual numbers because it takes so long for toxicology tests to confirm that people are dying of heroin overdoses.

Testing thus far has found no evidence of highly lethal fentanyl-laced heroin anywhere in Plymouth County, Cruz said. But especially pure forms of heroin are flooding the area and are catching users unprepared for the deadly high.

Page 2 of 2 - Officials warned that Zohyrdo, a new opiate about to hit the market, will only make the drug problems worse.

Probation officials said patients in treatment for opiate addiction are already abusing substitute drugs meant to help their recovery.

Many people are selling their 30-day suboxone prescriptions to make money to buy cheaper heroin. The drug is its own form of currency behind bars and needs to be better regulated. Doctors can currently prescribe the drug without insisting that patients attend counseling.

Officials said the state should also consider tightening regulation of so-called sober houses, where addicts in recovery ease back into the community. Witnesses cited abuses with drug treatment programs in some unregulated programs.

The aunt and parental guardian of a 22-year-old woman who died only two weeks ago gave the Senate panel a cold dose of reality.

Christine Saunders said her niece might be alive if court officers intervened when the young mother overdosed while visiting the local courthouse a week before she died earlier this month of another overdose.

The state needs to toughen penalties for drug dealers, she said, and should do more to give people access to drugs like Vivitrol, which block the narcotic effects of heroin and are injected once a month.

Saunders said the state should work with insurance providers to improve availability of treatment programs.

The Senate panel will continue holding regional hearings on the state’s drug problem through next month and will make preliminary recommendations in advance of the state’s next budget.